First-class service Selfishness unmasked

i aM amazed that the key to our economic recovery is to get people back to their offices in city centres and flock back to the coffee shops and sandwich bars.

i am sure economic powerhouses around the world will be quaking in their boardrooms at the thought of britain steaming into a new financial era on the back of skinny soya lattes.

it is also intriguing that coffee and sandwich chains such as pret a Manger are looking at novel ways to encourage footfalls. its particular wheeze is to offer a one-month subscription of £20 that lets customers get five free hot drinks per day.

This caffeine overload may increase footfall but there are more imaginative ways that would serve the general public better.

pret a post office could offer both sandwiches, drinks and the ability to post parcels and cash pensions. The extended opening hours and central locations would be a boon to the ever-shrinking post office network.

Costa Coffee could offer muchneeded access to banking services and Caffè nero could add community libraries to its shared portfolio.

When the coal mines and steel works closed, re-training courses were offered to the already highly skilled workforce. These were disrespectfully referred to as ‘welders into waiters’ schemes.

is it not time to retrain the glut of baristas into bankers? of course, the coffee chains could also work together to provide at least one free cash machine per mile in their areas. now that is lateral thinking. Ron J SCRIMGeouR, Forfar, Angus.

ThE Scottish Government is forever telling us what steps we must take to minimise the risk of Covid-19, including wearing masks in the shops.

i have been to several small shops recently and have seen this advice ignored frequently. The worst culprits seem to be the young men (teenagers) and elderly women.

on asking the shop owners why they ignore this behaviour they say it’s not their job (whose is it?) and they point out that the offenders might have an underlying health condition.

Surely such people should have some certificate from their doctor to back up their claims – or is this too much bother?

Ken MoRRISon, Hamilton, Lanarkshire.